A ranar 12 ga Afrilu 1877,
Romania ta ba da izini ga sojojin
Rasha su wuce ta cikin yankinta don kai farmaki ga Turkawa.A ranar 24 ga Afrilun 1877 Rasha ta shelanta yaki da
Daular Usmaniyya , kuma sojojinta sun shiga kasar Romania ta sabuwar gadar Eiffel da aka gina kusa da Ungheni, a kan kogin Prut, lamarin da ya haifar da tashin bama-bamai da Turkiyya ta yi a garuruwan Romania a kan Danube.A ranar 10 ga watan Mayun shekarar 1877, Masarautar Romania, wadda ke karkashin mulkin Turkiyya, ta ayyana 'yancin kai.
[23]A farkon yakin, sakamakon bai fito fili ba.Rashawa za su iya aika dakaru mai girma zuwa cikin Balkans: kusan dakaru 300,000 suna iya isa.Dakarun Daular Usmaniyya na da dakaru kusan 200,000 a yankin Balkan, inda kusan dubu 100 daga cikinsu aka sanya su ga wasu gagarabadau, inda aka bar kusan 100,000 ga sojojin da ke aiki.Daular Ottoman sun sami fa'idar kasancewa da ƙarfi, cikakken umarnin Tekun Bahar Rum, da kwale-kwale na sintiri a gefen kogin Danube.
[24] Sun kuma mallaki manyan makamai, da suka hada da sabbin bindigogin
Biritaniya da na
Amurka da makaman atilare na
Jamus .Duk da haka, a cikin taron, Ottomans sukan yi amfani da tsaro na tsaro, suna barin tsarin dabarun ga Rashawa, wanda bayan sun yi wasu kurakurai, sun sami dabarun nasara don yakin.Rundunar sojojin Ottoman a Konstantinoful sun yi mummunan zato game da manufar Rasha.Sun yanke shawarar cewa Rashawa za su yi kasala su yi tafiya tare da Danube kuma su ketare shi daga bakin tekun, kuma za su gwammace gajeriyar hanya ta bakin tekun Black Sea.Wannan zai zama yin watsi da gaskiyar cewa bakin tekun yana da mafi ƙarfi, mafi kyawun wadata da tsaro na Turkiyya.Akwai kagara ɗaya mai kyau wanda ke gefen cikin kogin Danube, Vidin.An yi garkuwa da shi ne kawai saboda dakarun da Osman Pasha ya jagoranta, sun jima sun shiga cin galaba a kan Sabiyawan a yakin da suka yi da Daular Usmaniyya.Yaƙin neman zaɓe na Rasha an tsara shi sosai, amma ya dogara kacokan akan ƙetare na Turkiyya.Wani muhimmin kuskuren Rasha shine tura dakaru kadan da farko;Dakaru kimanin 185,000 ne suka tsallaka tekun Danube a watan Yuni, kasa da na sojojin Turkiyya da ke yankin Balkan (kimanin 200,000).Bayan koma baya a watan Yuli (a Pleven da Stara Zagora), rundunar sojan Rasha ta gane cewa ba ta da ajiyar kuɗi don ci gaba da cin zarafi kuma ta canza zuwa matsayi na tsaro.Rashawa ba su ma da isassun sojojin da za su killace Pleven yadda ya kamata har zuwa karshen watan Agusta, wanda hakan ya kawo tsaiko ga yakin na tsawon watanni biyu.